Uwharrie Charter Academy
Board Meeting Minutes
December 10, 2015
5326 US Highway 220 Business South
Chairman Whatley called the meeting to order at 6:40PM.
Board members present:
Mac Whatley
Mark Hensley
Shannon McCrary
Leslie Green
Rose Lassiter
Michael Strickland
Ashley Duggins
Absent:
Julia DelGrande
Stacy Griffin
Others:
Heather Soja (ex officio)
Rhonda Dillingham (ex officio)
Casey Harris, middle grades principal
Consent Agenda:
Mark reported that we are halfway through our payments to the investor families. The monthly payments
have always been early. The November budget report shows we are projecting a positive budget balance
YTD $50,000.00 ahead of expenses. The State made a mistake by shorting us 19 students ($100,000.00).
The error has been fixed. Sixty-eight percent of our entire allotment has been made available to us. The
budget does not reflect this error. We are approved for 745 students. There were no questions. Shannon
moved to adopt consent agenda. Leslie seconded. All in favor.
Reports:
Casey reported that over $7,000.00 was raised from the Harvest Sale. Fresh Cuts has offered to sell what
the students are canning. Students have designed labels. Flex Day is December 16 and 17. The students
have made Polar Express decorations for four day care centers to tour. Teachers have spent over 20 hours
observing other teachers. The administration has spent over 70 hours in classes this year. Results of a staff
survey are positive. The “UCAMG Town Concept” reflects the goals of the middle grades, focused on
management, innovation, and planning. He is trying to think of how to meet the needs of students who
arrive early every day. Heather praised Casey and Lauren’s work. The staff seems to have bought in. Mac
said that the comments he has heard have been positive, especially the level of communication.
Heather reported that she has been focused on financing. Mark and Heather had a meeting with Alan Hart
that was positive. We fit the niche that they serve. There is a lot of work to do to apply for USDA
financing. Cameras are installed and we’ve had active shooter training. Outside cameras still need to be
installed. There will be twelve cameras installed outside. Enrollment is good. We are hopeful for Maxton
to finish the audit before the end of the year. The auditors have asked for about ten more items that
weren’t on the list.
Rhonda reported that she has been focused on improving professional development opportunities.
Teachers have completed Module 1 of an online self-paced project-based learning training. The modules
require teachers to design an action plan for practical use in the classroom. What they are learning will be
discussed in faculty meetings. In the near future, we will have training on differentiation, effective
professional learning communities, and data analysis. EVAAS data has been provided to EOC teachers.
Teachers have prediction/probability data on all of their students. Forty-five students were inducted into
Beta Club last month. Rhonda is in touch with Tom Tomberlin at DPI to find out if the SBE will approve
an alternate route to convert SP1 licenses to SP2 licenses without the use of Standard 6 through NCEES.
Mac asked what the difference is between and SP1 and an SP2. An SP1 is a probationary license for
beginning teachers. To convert that license to an SP2, DPI requires schools to give NC Final Exams,
which provide data for Standard 6. Since our mission is to reduce the number of tests students are
required to take, we are seeking an alternate route to converting beginning teachers’ licenses.
Facilities:
The flagpole has been installed. USDA financing is important because our current lease payment is over
$50,000.00 per month. Financing our purchase through USDA would put our payments at
approximately $38,000.00 per month. We can fold the baseball field into the financing. Mark
complimented Heather on compiling a notebook with information Alan Hart requested. They require us to
prove that USDA financing is needed. USDA terms are not available in the open market. We don’t want
to encumber the land for the next school on this lien. They’ll want to finance this school, the land that
goes with this school, and the septic property. A financial feasibility study will prove that we are capable
of paying this debt, which will probably be the most costly part of this project. We will have to hold a
public hearing to announce we are pursuing USDA financing. We should stress that we are purchasing
from Steve Hubrich.
Alan Hart said we don’t need a consultant. His employee, Katrina, would be putting the package together.
He was very positive about what we want to do. H has found a firm that can do the feasibility study (out
of Raleigh). The firm has worked with charter schools for a long time, and they currently do eleven
charter school audits. They are half the cost of the person who was recommended to us. They’ve
contacted Alan Hart to get clarification on the needs of the USDA. There will be a cost of approximately
$20,000-25000.00. They can start early January. Mark moved that we engage Thomas, Judy and
Tucker to perform our feasibility study for USDA financing. Shannon seconded. All in favor.
A canopy in the back of the school is necessary because of internal traffic flow. It would’ve been cheaper
to fold into the initial construction. Now it will be over $200,000.00. Mac recommends that we table this
until we are in another construction phase.
The Freeman’s land has gone on the market. Mac made a bid, which was countered, and Mac accepted.
The original was less than tax value which included the cost of the timber. We will get this land for under
$3,000.00 an acre, which is a good deal. Mac gave them earnest money. Clayton Burroughs is doing the
survey. The seller wants us to give Russell’s Grove Baptist Church half an acre to enlarge their cemetery.
Jerry Dickinson is interested in buying some of the land. He is Mac’s cousin. Mac would like Jerry to
finance the project. Steve Hubrich has offered to finance the land. There is an acre lot with frontage on
Highway 220. This piece of land extends to Pisgah Covered Bridge Road, which means we could have
another road for accessing the property.
There is a small piece of land with the Freeman property owned by the Beanes. Beane offered to sell us a
piece (half acre) for approximately $14,000.00. Mac would like approval to buy the Beane half acre lot
and to ratify giving the Freeman’s the $5,000.00 earnest money. The financing still needs to be worked
out. Mac would like to write the $14,000.00 check out of reserve funds. Mac has offered to handle the
Beane transaction pro bono, so there is no conflict of interest. Mark moved to approve the purchase of
the Beane property with Mac offering his services pro bono. Leslie seconded. All in favor.
Mark moved to accept the counter offer provided by the seller of the Freeman property. Leslie
seconded. All in favor.
Leave:
It is necessary to know how to pay for leave upon an employee’s separation from the school. How should
leave accrue? Mark recommends getting feedback from Stacy.
Buses: We take yellow buses to sporting events, but it would be nice to have some activity buses that
don’t have governors on them. We would like to have two buses painted white with green lettering so that
we can take off the governors and the stop arms. It would be about $3,000.00 for each bus. Mark
commented that it would be good to promote the school with nice activity buses. Shannon moved to
approve the buses be painted. Ashley seconded. All in favor.
Football: Heather reports some interest in football. We have had a lottery and we have a waiting list, but
some people would be more interested if we offered football. It would take two years to get it off the
ground and to create facilities/fields. It generally pays for the rest of the athletics’ program. It creates
other outlets for students like music and color guard. We invested $10,000.00 in lacrosse last year, but the
interest hasn’t been there. We could have a JV team in 2018. Heather asked for the Board’s input. Mark
said that football is incredibly expensive. Mark wants more information to understand the initial cost.
Mark wants someone reined in who is telling people that we will have football in 2018 because he has
had two families tell him that we will have football in 2018. Mark also added that football equipment
doesn’t last long. He also brought up our liability and questions we should have for our insurance carrier.
Mac added that we could have a marching band without having a football team. Mac’s biggest concern is
that football seems to take over the life of a school. He would rather have an established reputation as a
school that promotes academics before we begin a football program. Mac is concerned with sustaining the
funds. Michael says that a poor football team could be a drag on morale. Mark recommends putting a
small committee together to research the topic.
Personnel: Jeffrey Stutts, retired part-time social studies teacher, resigned and we accepted his
resignation. We have hired another part-time teacher who seems to be a good fit. She can start on
December 18.
College Liaison Position: Heather has someone in mind who once worked in a small college. We will
forward her resume and cover letter as well as the description of the position. It would be someone who
would mostly work from the high school but include the middle grades and RCC. It would be two days
per week. The individual would inform students of scholarships and summer activities. Mark thinks we
should consider a full-time position. Shannon wants the individual to meet with every student to map out
a plan beginning with freshmen. Michael discussed the drain on this individual. Ashley wants someone
who has a lot of experience with scholarships.
Exceptional Children’s Assistant: We are expanding our OCS program. Currently, we have one EC
assistant with our four students, but we will add more next semester. We get extra money for EC students.
We need another EC assistant due to adding 3-4 more students next semester.
Mac asked about the admin assistant position for HR. Ashley asked if we could contract those services
out. Heather thinks this could be done 20 hours per week. Mark suggested that a job description be
created. Heather says that the description exists and she will forward that to members.
Mac shared that Julia is unhappy with our website. Mac says he never gets comments about the high
school’s communication. Heather says that PayPal is the hold up on getting the new website up. A
dummy transaction was successful this week. Van worked with the people in Canada today. Shannon says
she feels there should be fewer emails for high school students because we should be encouraging them to
become independent.
Ashley says she had a parent complain about getting refunds for lunch mistake orders. Members praised
Casey for the new traffic pattern. Shannon commented on Chatham Charter’s website as being a good
example of listing upcoming dates on the calendar.
Mac reminded everyone about upcoming dates. Michael moved to adjourned. Leslie seconded. All in
favor.